i think even the optimists think if we can get beyond the fiscal cliff it will be positive. but we have to get a long-term budget deficit deal done or we'll continue to be in the slow growth type of economy. >> it's clear everything wants the confidence going forward. when it comes to how they might react to any pressure in the near term, can you explain, you know, whether it's cutting back on capital spending or cutting back on hiring? how companies are taking these decisions into account. it's been one area of uncertainty lately. we've seen stronger payroll despite pullback in capital spending. is the outlook likely to be consistent with that? >> you know, again, i think we're sitting right on the precipice here. we've done this survey year in and year out for a number of years. we also do a cash indicator. i actually see some of this underlying optimism in this survey if congress and the administration can get their act together here. and i think that even in our survey, we looked at the first half of '13 being slow and then the second half picking up. so there is a lot o